The new cultivar is a product of chance discovery. The new was discovered as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation from the parent variety Quercus nuttallii. The inventor discovered a single plant with bright red foliage growing among a commercial planting of Quercus nuttallii at a commercial nursery in Monticello, Fla. The new variety was first selected in Spring of 2007, by the inventor, Douglas Corley.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘CORLEY'S FIRECRACKER’ was first performed at a commercial nursery in Monticello, Fla. by grafting dormant budwood onto Quercus nuttallii during May of 2013. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.